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Asus Slate EP121/B121 disassemble and BIOS replacement

Recently, I upgraded my Asus Slate EP121 to the latest 704 BIOS version, through the inbuilt BIOS flash utility and unfortunately I bricked it (failed to power on or boot).

It was out of warranty, and even if it was in warranty, a failed BIOS upgrade is not covered. A bit of googling revealed that it was a fairly common occurrence, which then led me to Joe Kabalan from Advanced Quality Systems LLC who was able to provide a replacement BIOS for $20 plus $6 postage to Australia.

To replace the BIOS chip of the EP121 or any surface mount device (SMD) I recommend the following tools;

rework station or heat gun ($50 from eBay)

tweezers (few dollars from eBay)

solder paste

solder flux

thermal compound is needed specifically for the Asus Slate

Start by removing the back cover of the unit, start at the USB ports and slowly unclip the clips by sliding a credit card between the back cover and unit.There is a ribbon cable connecting the thermal sensor to the back cover, carefully dislodge the cable from the socket.

Near the HDMI port you will notice the BIOS chip tucked away under the metal frame. Convenient.

Remove the battery by removing the four screws and disconnecting the cable.

Remove the fans and heat pipe. Remove all screws surrounding the metal frame to detach it from the main unit.

Turn the removed frame and motherboard over and remove all screws holding the motherboard to it.